User blog:The Targaryen of District 4/Writing Corner
Not all of the writing that appears here may end up in the final version. Some of these are drafts. Prologue, Part 1: April The day of the inauguration was a lively one in The Capitol. The sun was scorching and the air was humid. Because of this, the usually heavily attired citizens of The Capitol donned lighter clothing. Chiffon clothing was the most popular choice today. In an attempt to hide the inevitable stench of sweat, perfumes with exotic fragrances had been used in an overwhelming amount. It was so overwhelming that it lingered in the humid air, making the air smell like warm fruits and fauna. There was some time left before the inauguration, everything was still being set up and no one was allowed entry into the seating areas of the Avenue of Tributes yet. Those who had tickets to attend chose to spend the time beforehand either getting ready, shopping or eating and drinking at the cafes and restaurants. These areas were a hub of activity for merchants and vendors capitalising on the inauguration by selling royal purple coloured food and merchandise. Located a few streets away from the Presidential Mansion and the Avenue of Tributes was Capitol Cuisine, one of the restaurants that was benefiting from the sudden influx of customers. They were benefiting so much that they were running out of supplies. "Go get some more then! Quickly!" one of the employees in the kitchen shouted. In the dining area, the shouting was drowned out by the sound of the television screens. The channel on each television screen had been set to Capitol News. The Capitol News program lineup consisted of nothing but reports on the inauguration and a live coverage of the event set to begin once the guests were allowed entry. It was as if the only thing to happen in Panem today was the inauguration and nothing else. Three more customers enter the restaurant. The eldest and most mature of the trio appeared to be the blonde haired, green eyed young woman with sunglasses on her head. She had put her hair in a ponytail. Her outfit was a light pink chiffon cardigan adorned with a rose pattern over a white vest, a light blue skirt and light pink slip-on shoes. Her earrings and ring had light pink roses on them. Next to her is the youngest of the trio, the male. His posture and appearance were indicators of his young age. He didn't have blonde hair, instead he had light brown hair with a sole orange streak. His outfit was a white short-sleeved t-shirt, red shorts that were cut off below the knee, white socks and white trainers with red laces. The final member of the trio was a young woman wearing a large straw hat. She looked slightly younger than the blonde-haired woman. She had long, straight black hair which she let loose. Her outfit was a simple yellow chiffon dress and high heels. The ribbon tied around the straw hat was the same shade of yellow as her dress. If estimates of their ages were to be given, the boy was at least 11-12, the "middle-child" was around 17-18 and the blonde-haired woman was in her early 20s. They stand by the door, where they are greeted by one of the waiters. Luckily for the trio, there was a vacant table. The waiter takes them to this table. "I'll be back soon to write down your orders." The waiter tells them before leaving their table. Once the waiter has left, the trio begin a lengthy conversation. "As soon as we are finished here, we have to head to the Avenue of Tributes. We have the best seats. So that means no desserts." Says the blonde haired young woman. "I have a lot of questions about this ceremony thing." The boy commented. "I think you mean inauguration." The woman wearing a straw hat suddenly piped up in response to the boy. "I have no idea what that means." The boy admitted. "Everyone at school keeps saying it but I don't understand what it means." "Uh oh, someone's not been paying attention in class." The woman in the straw hat proceeded to mock the boy, much to his frustration. "I can't help it! I'm dumb!" "Aegis, stop. Asher, an inauguration is when someone is admitted into a position of power. Miss Ryoku's inauguration is when she makes the vow to be a good President and puts the Presidential Ring on. After that, she officially becomes the President." The blonde-haired woman explained to Asher. "Now I understand. Thank you Arielle!" Asher smiles. Arielle smiles back at him: "You said that you had a lot of questions?" "Yeah. If the Ryoku family is so powerful, then why are we only just finding out who they are?" This question causes Arielle to raise an eyebrow. "I do not have the answer for that. I apologise Asher." Aegis closes her menu. "You guys haven't even looked at your menus yet. Also, the reason why we don't know much about the Ryoku family is simply because they shared little information about themselves. But now that they're the new Presidential family, we'll definitely find out more about them." The same waiter as before eventually returns to the table, ready to write down the orders. They seemed more enthusiastic than before. "To let you guys know, everything that we serve today has a royal purple theme. We even have miniature royal purple Capitol emblem flags for your drinks!" The trio give their orders. Arielle and Asher required some time to look through their menus, so Aegis went first, "I'll just have a Caesar salad." "Do you not want a drink?" The waiter asked her. "Water please." The waiter writes down Aegis' order, before looking to Asher, "How about the young gentleman?". Asher looks confused. His eyes were scanning the menu rapidly. After a minute or so, he drops the menu on the table, finally having decided on something. "Can I get the smallest pizza you have and fries please? And I'll have a cola as well." After the waiter writes down Asher's order, they looked to Arielle. "I will have a Caesar salad as well please. For my drink, could I have the colour-changing wine? Only a small glass though since I am not allowed to get drunk." "Of course. Two Caesar salads, a extra small pizza and fries, cola, water and colour-changing wine coming up." The waiter leaves the table again. The conversation continues. "What do we know about the Ryokus?" Asher asked. "All that I know is that their family crest must royal purple on it, explaining why there's so much royal purple coloured stuff being sold today, they've kept their origins secret and Lilith has nine children. Are they even from The Capitol to begin with?" "I'm pretty sure that you have to be born in The Capitol to be eligible to become President." Aegis replied. "Makes it all the more mysterious. But if there is something we can deduce about how they've managed to become the new ruling family of Panem, it's that Lilith must have had at least a high level of power to be even considered for the job. Either that or nepotism." "So much speculation." Arielle chuckled. "Like you said before, Aegis, we will find out more about them now that they are the Presidential family. Whatever their origins are it doesn't matter now." The trio waited patiently for their food and drinks. They actually did have a royal-purple theme (purple food colouring had been used a lot) and there were miniature royal purple Capitol emblem flags in the drinks. In order to prevent choking, the wooden cocktail sticks that the flags were attached on had been made to fit the entirety of the glasses. After finishing the meals, which Arielle would pay for, they exited the restaurant. Upon leaving, they were met with one of the food vendors. What they were selling in the box they were carrying were royal purple cupcakes. The purple icing used was a special type of icing; it didn't melt in the sun. Asher was tempted to buy one, but Arielle reminded them that they needed to get to the Avenue of Tributes. The trio were just three of many that were making their way to the Avenue of Tributes. Peacekeepers stood at every possible entrance, armed with ticket scanners and tasers for potential unruly guests. Their trademark guns were probably saved for those who enraged them to the point of achieving a gruesome fate. It wasn't just unruly and disruptive guests that Peacekeepers would keep in custody, they also stopped those with counterfeit tickets. Arielle had made sure that her tickets were genuine. The decorated Avenue of Tributes, which was located outside the Presidential Mansion, was alive with excitement. In a couple of months' time, the Avenue would host the Tribute Parade for the 500th Games. But for today, it was to give the Ryoku family a grand entrance. The seating areas were located on each side of the Avenue. Each had four rows of seats. The length of the seating areas were just as long as the Avenue itself, starting near the tunnels which the chariots would come out of and ending near the steps leading up to the heavily-guarded platform that the golden Presidential Chair and the podium that awaited Lilith was on. Equally regal-looking chairs had also been set out for Lilith's children. Hanging above the Presidential Chair and the podium was the Capitol flag. The seating areas had been divided. Peacekeepers were stationed at each seating area and division. In the spaces where the seating areas started and ended were large screens, currently set to visuals of the royal purple version of the Capitol emblem. These screens were for those who wouldn't be able to see what was going on; for those in the seating areas near the tunnels, they would need to watch the screens to see Lilith's inauguration and speech, whereas for those who were seated near the platform, they'd need to watch the screens to see the chariots. Those in the middle would have to watch the smaller screens on the walls behind both seating areas. On top of all the screens were speakers. Vendors were making the rounds, trying to rake in some money. Arielle, Aegis and Asher arrived at their seats. "I told you we had the best seats. We have the best view of the Presidential Chair." Arielle remarked excitedly. "We won't be able to see the chariots though." Aegis responded, looking at the screen near the seating area opposite to them. A quietened Asher was also looking around. The three sat down just in time for the first announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for coming today to witness the inauguration of Lilith Ryoku. As per tradition, our first event of the day, leading up to the inauguration and speech, is the parade of the Presidential family. The children will go in order from youngest to eldest." The screens switched from the Capitol emblem visuals to footage of the outside of the tunnel which the chariots would come out of. Loud cheering could be heard in person and on the footage. The cheering escalated once the first chariot exited the tunnel. Prologue, Part 2: May Luciel Ryoku, Head Gamemaker of the 500th Hunger Games Reapings: June 1st/June 2nd Category:Blog posts Category:Protected pages